Kevin Youells and Joe Collinson rewit
some history during one of the heats.

Flagging attendance got a boost by
adding a second heat in 2009 for the first time.

The Tides of History ...

This year marked the first use of a second heat, which generated
our highest attendance in four years. The demo was
also well received with nearly a dozen people attending. Newcomers
fared very well this year, as Nick Page learned the game at the
demo and then proceeded to win his first heat game. Four
earned their first laurels including our new champion who celebrated
his first WBC with his first wood.

Heat Highlights:

Ø Bill Banks dominates his game, scoring
a whopping 23 points in pre-eminence markers, with
only Richard Shay stopping him from leading the entire length
of the game.

Ø Matthew Beach scores a tournament high
214 points while cruising to a 40-point win.

Ø Rachel Harley racks up the second highest
score of the heats with 205.

Ø Alan Hayes scores an impressive 63 points
with Great Britain for the highest single epoch score in a second
place finish.

Ø Rome did not fare especially well. Of
the 13 games, those who played the Romans only went on to win
twice.

In addition to the previously mentioned, heat winners included
Joe Collinson, Ron Glass, David Anderson, Chris Trimmer, and
Charles Stucker.

Semi-final winners were Henry Dove by nine points over Matthew
Beach and Bill Beswick who tied for second, Patrick Gorman who
finished ten points ahead of top alternate David Anderson
, and Kevin Youells over Joe Collinson by seven in the closest
semi-final, setting up our field of six for Saturday's Final.

After getting passed the Minoans and playing the Hittites
minor empire, GM Kevin Youells took a lead at the end of Epoch
I, but it was not to last. Patrick Gorman followed
his Egyptians with the Chou Dynasty and was able to take a two-point
lead after two epochs. Kevin regained the lead - and
donned a huge target - when he drew and kept the Romans in the
third epoch. After that, it was all Henry Dove as
he played the Arabs followed by the Franks for a huge back to
back scoring round which gave him a resounding lead. He
was passed the Incas/Aztecs in an attempt to slow him down, and
only scored 21 points, but it was enough to keep him
in the lead. The United States did not appear in the
last epoch, and Henry was given the Netherlands instead. Patrick
Gorman had a chance to catch him while playing Great Britain,
but Henry was not to be denied.

Unlike the last two years where the winner was not determined
until revealing the hidden pre-eminence marker scores, this year
was not even close, as Henry had led the game from Epoch IV onward
and cruised to an 18-point victory in his first WBC. Congratulations
to our new champion, and a huge thank you to my asisstant GMs,
Greg Kulp, Craig Yope, and Mark Smith. I look
forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Rachel Harley tried to duplicate her
2008 Advanced Civ win,, but her Centurion shirt lost its
mojo.

The finalists move to Kinderhook for
the title game. Joe Collinson brought his daughter for a cheering
section.